In a display device for vehicles, it has been proposed to continue display of vehicle information regarding the vehicle after an engine, such as an internal combustion engine for running the vehicle, is turned off. Such a display device is, for example, described in JP10-309962A, JP2000-168398A, JP2005-81866A and JP2008-168818A.
For example, a display device described in JP2000-168398 has a liquid crystal display unit for displaying vehicle information and a microcomputer that controls the liquid crystal display unit to display the vehicle information when the engine is in operation. The microcomputer controls the liquid crystal display unit to continue the display of the vehicle information if insertion of the ignition key is detected after the engine is stopped.
A display device described in JP2005-81866A has a dial plate with a pointer for indicating vehicle information on the dial plate, and a control circuit for controlling rotation of the pointer along the dial plate. The control circuit controls the pointer to indicate the vehicle information such as a fuel level when an ignition switch for turning on and off the engine is in an on state. Further, the control circuit controls the pointer to keep a rotational angle for a predetermined period of time after the ignition switch is turned off, thereby to continue the display of the vehicle information.
A display device described in JP2008-168818A has a dial plate with a pointer for indicating vehicle information on the dial plate as a main indicator and a display control unit for controlling a rotation of the pointer. The display device of JP2008-168818A further has a sub-indicator. When the ignition switch is turned off, the display control unit controls the main indicator to stop the indication of the vehicle information as well as controls the sub-indicator to begin an image display of the vehicle information.
In the display device of JP2005-81866A, a user can know the vehicle information through the pointer on the dial plate, even after the engine stopped by turning off the ignition switch. In the display device of JP2008-168818A, similarly, a user can know the vehicle information through the image display by the sub-indicator, even after the engine is stopped by turning off the ignition switch.
In some conventional display devices prior to the display devices of JP2005-81866A and JP2008-168818A, the display of the vehicle information is turned off when the engine is stopped. In such a case, the user can recognize that the engine is not in operation because the display of the vehicle information is turned off. In the display devices of JP2005-81866A and JP2008-168818A, on the other hand, even if the control circuit or the display control unit acquires information indicating an engine off state, the control circuit or the display control unit controls the display unit to continue the display of the vehicle information. Therefore, it is difficult to clearly show the user that the engine is in the off condition, due to the continuous display of the vehicle information.